To every topological group, one can associate a unique universal
minimal flow (UMF): a flow that maps onto every minimal flow of the
group. For some groups (for example, the locally compact ones), this
flow is not metrizable and does not admit a concrete description.
However, for many "large" Polish groups, the UMF is metrizable, can be
computed, and carries interesting combinatorial information. The talk
will concentrate on some new results that give a characterization of
metrizable UMFs of Polish groups. It is based on two papers, one joint
with I. Ben Yaacov and J. Melleray, and the other with J. Melleray and
L. Nguyen Van Thé.